“We're just excited to see what it becomes,” said healthcare provider Jennifer Edwards, as the new Northern Nevada HOPES began operations after its big opening ceremony on 4th street.
“There's been this hype, building it for two years, and not really knowing what it's gonna be,” she says of the Jerry Smith Community Wellness Center.
The first priority for the new clinic, according to Edwards, is to provide easy-access care for the community members living at the Cares Campus. With the new location only a few blocks down from the shelter, “we can help them help themselves a little faster,” she says.
Rather than trying to make their way across town to the 5th street location, which HOPES also operates, people at the Cares Campus are just 0.1 miles from the new clinic’s front doors.
Edwards explains that when she worked at the 5th street clinic, her patients were often late, or didn’t show up to their appointments at all. She believes that for some staying at the Cares Campus, making the trek across town was too difficult. “I've actually started seeing (those patients) more just in this month that we've been open, then I really have in the last year,” she says.
Before the new clinic was up and running, the area “had an influx of ambulance visits,” according to Geeve Iverson, a member of the HOPES communications team. “People are trying to get care, but they're not able to get to Renown or Saint Mary’s,” two other healthcare facilities in the area. “This area kind of is a healthcare desert,” Iverson says.
Just across the street from the new clinic is Hope Springs, a tiny home village that HOPES opened in 2021. Hope Springs provides a six-month transitional housing program for our neighbors who need it most, and over 50 graduations in the past three years. Iverson says that Hope Springs is in the perfect spot, too: “it gave our CEO the chance to look across the street at an empty lot and say ‘that's where the clinic needs to go.’”
HOPES’ hope is that folks can easily access the new clinic, have their needs met, and then go on to spread the word to their neighbors and friends in the area. “For people experiencing homelessness, they don't have as much trust in the system,” Edwards points out. “So they have to hear that somebody that they know had a good experience.”
The non-profit brought eight medical providers over to their new clinic on April 1st, so they could start providing medical care for folks in the area, as soon as possible. On July 1st, they’ll bring over an additional seven, for a total of 15 medical clinicians at the 4th street locations.
But the kind of care that HOPES provides doesn’t end after meeting patients’ physical needs. They’ve also integrated behavioral health into their practice. The new clinic has an entire wing devoted to behavioral healthcare, with both group and individual therapy spaces.
“Often for behavioral health, you have to be referred out,” Edwards explains. “It may be, you know, three months before you actually get to talk to somebody.” But at HOPES, if Edwards is treating a patient in primary care and they express a mental or behavioral health concern, “I can go right outside of my room and talk with the behavioral health person, bring them into my room, and have the patient talk to them and do some follow-up.”
Another barrier to healthcare access is financial concerns. It’s common practice for many folks to avoid the doctor because they aren’t sure whether they’ll be able to afford it or not. HOPES actively works to address this barrier as well– along with accepting most insurance policies, they also have an on-site Medicaid worker. So if a patient doesn’t have Medicaid or doesn't know if they qualify, “we often can have them see the Medicaid worker right then, and try and get them qualified right away,” according to Edwards.
For those without Medicaid or other insurance, HOPES offers a sliding scale, pay-what-you-can system. “We don't turn somebody away just because they can't meet their co-pay that day,” Edwards says. This model allows HOPES to effectively serve groups who are often the least likely able to financially access healthcare: unhoused or housing insecure community members, undocumented or uninsured neighbors, and folks struggling with substance use.
“There’s a stigma that 4th street is a dangerous part of the city to be in,” Iverson points out. He is hopeful that Hope Springs, paired with the HOPES new 4th street clinic, will start to chip away at that stigma. “(Unhoused communities) aren’t dangerous,” he says. “They just don't have the resources that they need.”
If you or someone you know is interested in seeking care at HOPES, you can schedule your first appointment by calling 775-786-4673, Monday–Friday, 8am-5pm, and asking to schedule a “new patient appointment.”